Wild North America 1846

Chapter 229 Divine Soldier descends from heaven
Nov. 1855, 2

6:00 a.m.

The coalition forces concentrated thousands of artillery pieces to bombard the Russian positions. The fierce artillery fire pierced the morning light and smashed hard on the Russian positions, filling the air with dust and shaking the ground.

Those shells that exploded on the ground were triggered fuze shells fired by the new Colt breech-loading field guns. After landing, they exploded into a large area, and the fried soil fragments burst, and clouds of blue and black thick gunpowder smoke rose.

However, the solid shells fired by the old-fashioned artillery hit the walls and bastions of the Russian army's positions, and at most the stone skin the size of a washbasin collapsed, which was far inferior to the new-style shells in terms of lethality and deterrence.

The Tsarist Russian army has become accustomed to the bombardment of the coalition forces. They hid in the trenches with their guns in their hands, and they still had time to take out the black bread in their arms and chew it in their mouths, appearing calm and composed.

In the army camps in the city of Sevastopol and its suburbs in the rear, a large number of Russian soldiers who hurriedly got up, driven by the officers, came to the front line in long queues.

Russian soldiers successively sent reinforcements to the front line through two large iron bridges, preparing for a desperate battle with the coalition forces.

Generally speaking

The Russian soldiers who huddled on the defense of the fortress used the 50-gram conical heavy bullets loaded with muskets to counterattack, which could cause fatal damage to the attacking British and French allied forces.

Often when attacking at close range, the formation of the British and French allied forces has lost more than 1/3 of its soldiers after the cross-fire of artillery fire and bullets.

In the end, the Tsarist Russian soldiers were able to repel the attacking enemy through fierce white-blade counterattacks.

Similar battles have been repeated countless times, which has made the Russian army form a habit from the commander to the soldiers to deal with the coalition attack step by step and gather a large number of troops to the front.

The fierce bombardment lasted for more than two hours. At 8:15 in the morning, the horns of the coalition forces sounded the horn of attack. Tens of thousands of coalition soldiers poured out of the trenches and lined up under the supervision of the officers. .

One piece after another, one row after another, the huge army formation spread out on a vast snowfield of more than ten square kilometers. British soldiers in red uniforms, French soldiers in dark blue uniforms, and heads Ottoman soldiers wearing tall hats formed an offensive formation that could not be seen at a glance.

early sunny after snow
The army formations on the vast snow field are particularly conspicuous, layer upon layer spread to the end of the sky, and the battlefield filled with gunpowder and smoke renders a strong atmosphere of decisive battle.

On the bastion positions held by the Russian army
Wearing a ferret fur cloak, Prince Menshikov's nose was red from the cold, and his deep brown eyes revealed seriousness. He put down the brass monocular in his hand and said in a reserved tone; "It's really confusing, although I I admire Lord Raglan's persistent offensive spirit, oh... By the way, there is also the Frenchman Marshal Armand. They know that they are unpopular and have insufficient ability, but they make futile efforts again and again. This is really true. It is very regrettable."

"Your Royal Highness, your Russian warriors are ready to strike back and give them another taste of Ross' iron fist."

"It seems that the Anglo-French coalition forces need to be given a deeper memory. My Guards Cavalry Division and Cossack Cavalry Division are called up. Their sharp sabers are eager to harvest heads. This will be a good opportunity to honor military exploits."

"His Royal Highness, as you wish."

"Notify all the generals and let them follow the established combat rhythm. I think everyone is familiar with it, so I won't make specific deployments."

"As you order, Your Royal Highness."

Prince Menshikov had a beautiful upturned beard, he nodded gracefully, and seemed neither nervous nor surprised by the huge offensive of the coalition forces.

As the commander-in-chief of the Russian army who resisted the British and French troops for nearly a year in the defensive battle of Sevastopol, the two sides fought dozens of battles. Although the Tsarist Russian army lost more and won less, it still contained the coalition's attack after all. Momentum, to defend the Sevastopol fortress.

From this point of view only
Prince Menshikov is undoubtedly an excellent commander in the Tsarist Russian army. He is indeed qualified to be conceited. With his own strength, he blocked the successive attacks of the coalition forces of the British, French, Tang, Ottoman and Sardinian kingdoms, and put the battle situation into a confrontation. In the quagmire.

Hurt each other, who is afraid of whom?

The upper-class nobles of Tsarist Russia never cared about the lives of lowly serf soldiers. They were like weeds, which were inexhaustible consumables.

Just when the Tsarist Russian army was converging on the narrow line of positions on the north shore of Sevinaya Bay and the Bebek Canyon, suddenly there was a dense burst of gunfire from the west, followed by the cold wind in February.

"Where is this shooting?" Prince Menshikov frowned and turned around, looking at the West with an unhappy expression. Obviously, the sudden appearance made him very unhappy.

"Report Your Highness, this seems to be the sound of gunfire coming from our military camp in the west, where General Yanukovych should be stationed, how could it be... I will send someone to check the situation immediately."

"General Yanukovych, is that Ukrainian nobleman?"

"Yes, Your Highness. General Yanukovych arrived at the fortress with reinforcements from Odessa more than a month ago. They were assigned to station in the western suburbs of the city. There are about 1.5 troops under his command."

"What do you think happened there?"

"Oh, Your Royal Highness, could it be... Could it be that he was attacked by the enemy?"

"Hahaha... Poor Your Excellency General Valery Stokimir, I am really amazed by your open mind. Yesterday's one-foot-thick blizzard just stopped. What kind of army do you think can break through? Wings flying over the steep Arkamonde Mountain? This is really absurd." Prince Menshikov laughed loudly, then stopped his smile, stared at his subordinates with extremely oppressive eyes and said;

"It must be the damn battalion, order that stupid General Yanukovych to suppress the troops immediately, I don't want to worry about these little Ukrainian fleas when facing a decisive battle with the coalition forces, let them solve these troubles as soon as possible .”

"Obey, Your Royal Highness, I will send someone to convey your order immediately."

"Go ahead, maybe we can use these Ukrainians in the counterattack."

Speaking of here
The arrogant Prince Menshikov turned around and refocused on the British and French troops approaching step by step, his face also became serious.

he can see;
The coalition forces on the opposite side gathered almost all their strength in a desperate attempt, and 16 troops rushed out. This will be a severe test for the frontal defense of the fortress.

Western suburbs of Sevastopol city
An astonishing number of Expeditionary Forces of the Tang Kingdom poured out like a tide. Under the initial intensive gun attack, the soldiers had already invaded the Ukrainian barracks, massacred the Russian army with deadly and intensive firepower, and harvested lives efficiently.

The expeditionary force appeared too suddenly, as if it appeared suddenly after heavy snowfall. Even the Ukrainian soldiers guarding the camp did not recognize the enemy's attack at first, thinking it was a friendly force that was about to be urgently mobilized.

Caught off guard

Already overwhelmed by the tide of expeditionary soldiers, they rushed into the camp with their rifles in hand, and carried out an almost one-sided bloody massacre.

Soldiers in the expeditionary army are generally equipped with the Colt 1848 lever-type repeating rifle (extended), which can be loaded with 13 bullets with the bullets in the chamber, commonly known as "thirteen rings". The last shot was able to unleash ferocious firepower at an extremely fast speed.

These Ukrainian soldiers from Odessa were in bad luck. Because they did not receive reinforcement orders, some Russian soldiers in the barracks were having breakfast, some gathered to discuss the heavy shelling in the morning, and some held their sleeves Looking south like a barracks, I don't know that disaster has come.

Their guns were kept in a centralized place, and they were unarmed when they encountered the soldiers of the expeditionary army rushing in with a murderous look. The flying dog hopped and ran away, and was soon overturned by the bullets that came from nowhere...

just over 20 minutes
This Ukrainian barracks entrenched in the western suburbs was taken away as a whole, killing and wounding tens of thousands of Russian soldiers and capturing more than 5000 people.

Adhering to the style of brave attack, when some soldiers of the expeditionary army surrounded and entered the Ukrainian barracks, another part of the soldiers of the expeditionary army maintained a strict formation and rushed all the way to Sevastopol.

The order they received was to crush and eliminate any Russian troops they saw, and take the opportunity to occupy the solid defensive positions, forts and bastions of Sevastopol and hold them firmly, preparing for a crazy Russian counterattack.

The vanguard troops that entered the Ukrainian camp in the western suburbs left a small number of troops to guard the prisoners of war after a short rest, and the brigade of about 2.3 troops continued to march toward the north.

this way
Since the Russian command moved forward to defend the line of defense, the soldiers of the expeditionary army who rushed all the way were hardly hindered. Even if they encountered a small number of Russian soldiers with hundreds of people, they would be defeated in one blow and could not be stopped at all. a cent.

more than an hour later

Near 10 o'clock in the morning, the soldiers of the expeditionary force who rushed all the way approached the position on the south bank of Sevinaya Bay about two or three kilometers away.

from here

You can see the dark Russian soldiers waiting in line in the distance, all facing the north. There are surging heads everywhere on the south and north shores of Sevinaya Bay, with rifles like forests. Just count them. There are at least 12 Russian soldiers in front of you. .

This is just what I saw, how many I didn't see?
The gunfire in front is rumbling, and the dense gunfire is like a storm like a storm, and the grand gunpowder smoke fills the battlefield, like a thick fog.

Under the interference of gunfire, the Russian army in front did not realize that a large number of expeditionary soldiers had killed behind them.

The visibility on the battlefield was low, and some messengers from the Russian army who had just been dispatched rushed over. They suddenly changed their colors when they saw the soldiers of the Tang Kingdom marching in line, and it was too late to run back to report.

A burst of gunfire rang out, and these Russian orderlies fell from their horses like birds with broken wings.

Soon, the expeditionary force was getting closer and closer to the Russian troops with their backs turned away from them, from two or three kilometers to within a thousand yards, but the Russian troops still didn't know it.

Major General Duan Debiao, who was commanding the army to steadily approach, was ecstatic in his heart, and the military band stopped playing, and the phalanxes formed by the infantry regiments were advancing, quietly moving closer together to form a phalanx formed by more than a dozen regiments. The formation of long snakes steadily approached the Tsarist Russian army.

The distance is getting closer and closer to within 500 yards.

From here, one could faintly hear the roar of mountains and tsunami-like shouts of killing from the north, mixed with the sound of guns and artillery, and it was obvious that the battle ahead was in full swing.

In order to firmly attract the main force of the Tsarist Russian army, the French army, which was responsible for the main attack, also took out their housekeeping skills. After the heavy artillery bombardment, the soldiers advanced steadily with Mini rifles on their shoulders, and shot a shot at a position more than 400 yards away from the Russian army. Round after round of firing guns, they assumed a fierce offensive posture.

The distance of more than 400 yards has exceeded the range of the old-fashioned muskets equipped by the Russian army. Therefore, the Russian soldiers on the front line of the confrontation were suppressed by the powerful firepower of the French, and many soldiers were shot to the ground.

Not to be outdone, the artillery fire of the Russian army fired fiercely at the French army array, which also brought blood and rain to the French soldiers. The two sides on the battlefield fought back and forth, and the scene was quite intense.

The effective range of the Colt 1848 bursting rifle equipped by the soldiers of the Expeditionary Army of the Tang Kingdom is 300-350 yards, which is slightly inferior to the 500-yard range of the Mini rifle, but the rifle firepower and shooting continuity crush the Mini rifle , both sides have their own strengths.

The front-loading smoothbore flintlock rifle equipped by the Russian army uses a 50-gram cone-shaped heavy bullet. Although it has high damage, the shooting accuracy is poor, and the range is greatly reduced. The actual strike distance does not exceed 200 yards. It belongs to the early 19th century. Old weapon level.

When the expeditionary force column approached within 300 yards, Major General Duan Debiao suppressed the ecstasy in his heart, stopped the officers' impulse to attack, and led the army to continue to approach.

250 yards...220 yards...180 yards...

until this time
Several Tsarist Russian officers turned their heads and found the approaching Datang Kingdom army column. The visibility on the smoky battlefield was low. After careful identification, they were shocked and shouted loudly.

More Russian soldiers turned around one after another, looking in amazement at the soldiers of the expeditionary army who approached about 150 yards, some couldn't help shouting, and some turned around and ran away in fear.

There was a huge commotion in the originally rigorous formation of the Tsarist Russian army...

so close
The soldiers of the Russian army could already see clearly the unfamiliar military uniforms worn by the soldiers of the expeditionary army, and the capitalized Chinese character "Tang" on the flying flags. Although they couldn't see the specific faces clearly, they were definitely not the Russian army.

The rest of the answers are just around the corner.

No one knows when, the Expeditionary Army of the Tang Kingdom appeared behind the Russian army like a divine soldier descending from heaven.

after realizing this
There was obvious panic in the Russian army ranks, and a small number of Russian soldiers even turned their guns and fired bullets at the slowly approaching Datang Kingdom Expeditionary Army ranks.

The sporadic gunfire did not affect the commander, Major General Duan Debiao. There was a cruel grin on his face. When the soldiers of the expeditionary army approached to a distance of about 120 yards from the Russian army, they raised the command knife in their hands and signaled to stop the advance. Order.

"Hold the gun flat, free fire, fire!"

(End of this chapter)